THE nation is shocked over continued loss of precious lives in the war against terror because of lack of cooperation from neighbouring Afghanistan, which has become a major source of activities aimed at weakening Pakistan and its economy. In the latest tragedy, seven Pakistan Army personnel, including a captain, were martyred on Sunday after an improvised explosive device (IED) hit a vehicle of security forces in Lakki Marwat district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
There is absolutely no doubt that the armed forces of Pakistan are capable of thwarting designs of the enemy as they successfully decimated many terror networks posing threat to the country as well as the region. And their relentless efforts and sacrifices neutralized thousands of potential threats and the incidents like the one that occurred in Lakki Marwat speak volumes about the nature of the threat and the price that we are paying for the foreign-aided terrorist activities. Pakistan is facing economic and financial crises and wants to concentrate its energies on policies and programmes aimed at spurring growth and development. This requires complete peace of mind and it is the aim of the armed forces to provide the necessary security cover for the purpose but the task becomes complicated because of the safe havens provided to anti-Pakistan terror networks by the Taliban Government. It is known to all that the resource-starved Pakistan spent billions of rupee on a border management project, which was aimed at monitoring and regulating cross-border movement but it is next to impossible to police the porous border without active cooperation from the other side. Regrettably, the Kabul Government is not only openly opposing the border management efforts but also tacitly encouraging TTP elements in their anti-Pakistan activities. In this backdrop, we have been emphasizing in these columns that it is time for Pakistan to review its Afghan policy after a thorough debate in the parliament. The parliamentary input would give political ownership to the anti-terror campaign and also send a right kind of message across the Durand Line.
